Lessons from piloting a new operational model in real time
This is a symposium unlike most others.

We will start with a session featuring the extraordinary stories of two Ukrainian academics, Professor Yana Sychikova and Professor Igor Lyman, and then follow with analysis of the potential implications for Australian institutions from a range of Australian HE leaders.

Professor Sychikova and Lyman will discuss insights from studying 40 displaced universities across Ukraine, raising some really interesting questions for Australian institutions, which will be addressed by a range of Australian HE leaders:

1. Low cost, high quality university operations have been sustained for four years with no campus and few resources. Enrolments and completions remain strong, and research output has increased. What can Australian institutions learn from the success of the Universities Without Walls model?  Given the challenges of growing participation in tertiary education in a cost effective way, the discussion of alternative operation structures is significant.

2. A number of displaced Ukrainian universities have demonstrated agility and high levels of community engagement and responsiveness. We have had a lot of discussion about social licence and the sector in Australia. We aren't at war, but we do need a path towards connecting community and institutions. We also haven't been good at agility - something that will be key to address the Accord's challenges.

3. Lessons in crisis readiness and data protection. While we are not likely to face war in the immediate future in Australia, there are plenty of lessons about the importance of crisis preparedness, and also data protection. The Ukrainians have had to ramp up protection of student data to protect students who are on the front line and those in occupied territories studying illegally. The importance of looking not just at where we store data, but what data we choose to collect and store is going to be important for the integrity of the system.

4. Embedded research collaboration offshore driving knowledge breakthroughs. Some displaced Ukrainian universities have increased research output by placing staff and students in offshore labs. How far should we go in transplanting staff offshore to unlock strategic gains in our research capacity and outputs?